Traditionally, cable splice closures would be heat-shrinkable, such that on applying heat, the closure would shrink and closely encapsulate the splice, providing a good seal. However, there is a growing demand for so-called cold applied closures, which can be applied without use of heat or other external energy source.
Several types of cold applied closures have been proposed. Some involve tape which can easily be wrapped around the cable splice. Many closures involve gel or gel-type materials because of their excellent sealing properties, especially when suitably enclosed and compressed against an object to which a seal is desired. Existing hard-shelled closures, disclosed in for example WO-A-9516500, are provided with chambers for containing the gel. Although such an arrangement provides an excellent seal, the predetermined size of a hard-shelled closure requires a range of closures to be provided in order to be able to accommodate cable splices of various shapes and dimensions.